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Trivia: Musical Terms

Subject : trivia
Instructions:
  • Answer 50 questions in 15 minutes.
  • If you are not ready to take this test, you can study here.
  • Match each statement with the correct term.
  • Don't refresh. All questions and answers are randomly picked and ordered every time you load a test.

This is a study tool. The 3 wrong answers for each question are randomly chosen from answers to other questions. So, you might find at times the answers obvious, but you will see it re-enforces your understanding as you take the test each time.
1. The interval between two notes. Three whole tones and one semitone make up the distance between the two notes.






2. Music that is written and performed without regard to any specific key.






3. Repetition of a single tone.






4. A period in history dating from the 14th to 16th centuries. This period signified the rebirth of music - art - and literature.






5. Lowest female singing voice.






6. A musical style characterized as excessive - ornamental - and trivial.






7. Convenient method of numbering a composer's works where a number follows the word 'opus'.For example - Opus 28 - No. 4.






8. Eight full tones above the key note where the scale begins and ends.






9. A harmonic given off by a note when it is played.






10. Combining a number of individual but harmonizing melodies. Also known as counterpoint.






11. Word to indicate that the movement or entire composition is to be played smoothly.






12. One of the two modes of the tonal system. Music written in major keys have a positive affirming character.






13. The voice between soprano and alto. Also - in sheet music - a direction for the tempo to be played at medium speed.






14. A composition written for three voices and instruments performed by three people






15. Either of the two octave arrangements in modern music. The modes are either major or minor.






16. Music that is easy to listen to and understand.






17. Time in music history ranging from the middle of the 16th to the middle of the 17th centuries. Characterized by emotional - flowery music; written in strict form.






18. Refers to the tuning of an instrument.






19. A drama where the words are sung instead of spoken.






20. A form of writing for vocals that is close to the manner of speech and is rhythmically free.






21. Written for 2 to 10 solo parts featuring one instrument to a part. Each part bears the same importance.






22. Curved line connecting notes to be sung or played as a phrase.






23. Elaborate polyphonic composition of the Boroque and Renaissance periods.






24. Word to indicate the movement or entire composition is to be played gracefully.






25. An instrumental lament with praise for the dead.






26. A rhythmic succession of musical tones - a melody for instruments and voices.






27. A style of male singing where by partial use of the vocal chords - the voice is able to reach the pitch of a female.






28. A quick 20th century dance written in double time.






29. Vocal composition written for three or more solo parts - usually without instrumental accompaniment.






30. An extended solo - often accompanying the vocal part of an aria.






31. Written for 2 to 10 solo parts featuring one instrument to a part. Each part bears the same importance.






32. A repeating phrase that is played at the end of each verse in the song.






33. The study of forms - history - science - and methods of music.






34. A symbol in sheet music that returns a note to its original pitch after it has been augmented or diminished.






35. Lowest female singing voice.






36. A piece of music written in triple time. Also an old French dance.






37. Movement or passage that concludes the musical composition.






38. A piece of music played at the end of a recital responding to the audiences enthusiastic reaction to the performance - shown by continuous applause.






39. One of the two modes of the tonal system. The minor mode can be identified by the dark - melancholic mood.






40. The voice between soprano and alto. Also - in sheet music - a direction for the tempo to be played at medium speed.






41. Convenient method of numbering a composer's works where a number follows the word 'opus'.For example - Opus 28 - No. 4.






42. A set of seven musicians who perform a composition written for seven parts.






43. Successive notes of a key or mode either ascending or descending.






44. A complex piece of music. Usually the first movement of the piece serving as the exposition - a development - or recapitulation.






45. Includes all twelve notes of an octave.






46. Rapid alternation between notes that are a half tone or whole tone apart.






47. Pertaining to the fugue - the overlapping of the same theme or motif by two or more voices a few beats apart.






48. A short piece originally preceded by a more substantial work - also an orchestral introduction to opera - however not lengthy enough to be considered an overture.






49. A musical scale having five notes.For example: the five black keys of a keyboard make up a pentatonic scale.






50. A composition written for a solo instrument. The soloist plays the melody while the orchestra plays the accompaniment.